Cheapened Things
by tigermoth26
Summary: story revision


Cheapened Things  
By JimJim  
  
Thankyou Shaure, Hoodat and SG Workshop for your help.  
  
--------------------------------  
Saturday  
--------------------------------  
  
I lie back contentedly in the comfort of satin sheets and downy   
pillows. At the foot of the bed Janet sits, fastening the buttons of   
her cream coloured blouse. She turns her head and gives me a slow,   
shy smile. Succulent lips part to reveal teeth set like perfect   
pearls. Wow. What a load of poetical bullshit. My high-school   
English teacher would be proud of me.   
  
No matter, I grin back at her and beckon for her to return to my   
side. "You're so sexy in the morning." I complement. And I do mean   
it, it's just the waxing poetical that peeves me with its silliness.   
Various parts...well okay, one part, of my anatomy springs to attention   
as she crawls across the satin bedcovers and then straddles her legs   
across my hips. Smooth expanses of soft, tanned skin tease my   
fingertips as I lazily stroke them over her legs. She's beautiful,   
she's talented in oh-so-many ways, and best of all, she's completely,   
utterly, and totally mine.   
  
"What are we going to do today?" she questions, her eyes shining   
matching pools of rich chocolate in the morning sunlight.   
  
Leaning forward from where my back is rested against the headboard, I   
kiss her. "Oh, I don't know...maybe we can just stay in bed and play..."  
  
Her laugh is rich and rewarding as she rolls us over so that I now   
lie on top of her. The room is silent again save for the occasional   
scrape of leaves across sunlit window panes and the rhythmical   
thumping of the headboard against the wall. Shifu was wrong when he   
said nothing good could come with the knowledge of how to destroy the   
Goa'uld. This life is luxurious. I have everything I ever wanted   
and will ever need. I am doing something good for the world - I will   
save Earth. I will defeat the bad guys. It's not about absolute   
power. This is about saving lives.  
  
*  
  
The high-pitched bleat of the telephone rudely interrupts our   
impromptu bout of morning sex. I glower at the hated object and   
consider having the caller killed for disturbing us at this hour. Or   
maybe I'll just fire my receptionist for letting people call me on a   
Saturday. She knows how much I hate that. Stupid woman...she should   
know better.  
  
Janet sighs unhappily as I roll off her and reach for the phone. I   
give her a small smile in apology, laying on my stomach with one arm   
supporting me as I snap a greeting down the line.  
  
It's the President calling. He informs me that he's going to cut   
down the funding to the Earth Net project so that he can sell the   
budget to the hill for re-election next month. Smug bastard. He   
automatically assumes that he can do whatever he wants just because   
he has the title `President' before his name. Can't he see I am   
trying to protect this country? This Earth?   
  
"If you want to jeopardise the future of this planet be my guest!" I   
tell him, moving into a sitting position at the edge of the bed.   
Janet slinks up and sits behind me, wrapping her arms around my   
stomach and gently resting her head on my shoulder. Her sweet-  
smelling presence calms me, and I take a breath. "Look Robert," I   
start over, "I know you want to win another term in office this   
year, but cutting back funding for the Earth Net project is not going   
to help you."   
  
The kid-glove approach seems to be working; the President is   
listening to me now. Then again, he never had very much resolve.   
Dealing with him is like stealing candy from a baby. Mention the   
word `election' and the man is putty in your hands.   
  
After a short but truly inspirational speech about saving the Earth   
and protecting our proud nations from the evil grasp of terrorists   
and blah, blah, blah on my part, the President finally decides that   
perhaps the EN project does need extra funding after all. He can cut   
the extra spending from the budget from education and forestry -   
now *there* are two areas where money consistently gurgles down the   
drain.  
  
Janet moves from behind me as I return the handset to its cradle.   
She stands barefoot upon the plush carpet in front of me and waits   
for me to join her. "The things you have to do to save the world."   
She teases lovingly as I take her outstretched hand and kiss her   
smiling lips.   
  
"At least I have you to believe in me." I return, smoothing my hands   
over her tiny waist to rest them gently upon her hips. My stomach   
growls. She laughs sweetly at my embarrassment.   
  
"You hungry?" she asks, stroking her thumbs along the sides of my   
neck.   
  
I crush her to me for another kiss before my stomach rumbles its   
protest once again. I press call button for the maid as soon as we   
break apart. "Is that really necessary?" Janet asks me, for the   
umpteenth time in our already three-month long relationship. She's   
never been used to servants; even with her army of nurses at the SGC,   
cleaning up after surgery and all the other menial jobs that they do   
for her around the infirmary. I guess she sees those nurses as part   
of her team, all working together with her to keep things running   
smooth and efficiently.   
  
A discreet knock on the door signals the arrival of the   
maid. "Enter." I command.  
  
It's the blonde one today. She greets us with a smile and a `good   
afternoon Sir, Ma'am' and fetches our dressing gowns from the   
closet.   
  
"Thankyou Helena." Janet says as she takes her dressing gown from   
the maid's hands. She's far too polite to them. They're only   
servants, after all.  
  
Dressing gowns donned, I gently guide Janet from the room with my   
hand on the small of her back. My assistant Jennifer waits for me   
with the afternoon paper and a freshly brewed coffee for both of us   
at the foot of the stairs. Janet smiles and greets each one of my   
staff good afternoon in her usual way. She stops to talk with   
Jennifer about her kids and her family...or whatever it is that she   
does when she isn't on duty here.   
  
When we finally make it to the dining table, the blonde maid...I think   
her name was Helena...takes down our orders for breakfast. Janet is,   
as always, amused and overwhelmed by it all. "Sweetheart, you must   
stop treating the help as equals." I gently chide her as she once   
again prevents Helena from laying out a napkin for her.   
  
"They're people, Daniel." She answers, trying once again to soften   
my spirit with her deep and pleading eyes. I'll have to check with   
the chef to make sure he's remembering to add the sedatives to   
Janet's food. She's been a little hard to handle lately.   
  
I smile calmingly and place my hand over hers where it rests upon the   
table. "You're just suffering from anxiety again sweetheart." I   
tell her. Poor sweet thing, ever since Cassandra went off to   
university in Canada, things have been hard for her. She's lucky   
that she has me in her life. I am her constant and her touchstone.   
I am the man who keeps her strong.   
  
-----------------------------------  
Wednesday  
-----------------------------------  
  
Janet has gone out to visit with Sam today. SG1 is on downtime for a   
couple of weeks while Jack recovers from some nasty virus he   
contracted after they gated to a planet which was, now that I go   
over the translations again, an Asgard biological testing zone.   
Pity I didn't catch that part the first time. Not that they can   
blame me for that, however. I have much more important things to do   
than go traipsing across the stars on a daily basis. I am busy   
saving the world.   
I pad into the den and find myself being walked into by my defence   
advisor. The sheaf of carefully ordered reports that I am holding   
flutters in a snowstorm to the floor. "You careless ape!" I scold   
him. "Look at this mess that you have caused! Look at it!"  
  
I point at the mess of papers on the floor for emphasis. "I should   
have the right mind to fire you for this incompetence! I did not   
hire a monkey for a defence advisor. Pick these papers up at once   
and give them to Jennifer for re-organising!" I throw my hands up in   
annoyance as I turn on my heel and storm my way up the stairs. "A   
man cannot get any work done in this household!" I shout angrily,   
pushing one of the maids out of my way as she carefully dusts the   
landing. "Nothing at all!"  
  
*  
  
Janet returns just before dinner. She is a sight for sore eyes after   
being surrounded in a house full of incompetence and stupidity. Even   
Jessica has been uncharacteristically incapable this afternoon, not   
even having a pen ready for use on my command. Idiots!  
  
I greet my sweetheart at the door as she reluctantly hands her jacket   
to the waiting maid. "Baby, where have you been all day?" I ask   
her, pressing a kiss to each of her beautifully rounded cheeks.   
  
"With Sam." Is her curt reply. She's upset. She pushes me away and   
hurries to the downstairs bathroom, shutting and locking the door   
behind her. I follow her hastily to the now closed doorway.   
  
"Janet, sweetheart, what's wrong?" I ask. Getting no reply, I knock   
upon the door and twist the handle. Helena, the blonde maid comes   
cautiously to stand behind me to see if she can be of any help. I   
dismiss her with the wave of my hand. But then call her back at the   
noise of heavy retching coming from behind the locked door.   
  
"Janet?" coughing, more retching. "Jan?! Baby are you okay?"   
  
Silence again, punctuated by the occasional choked cough. "Helena   
call the doctor." I order. The maid curtsies and then runs for the   
phone. I hear the toilet flushing and the noise of taps running in   
the bathroom. The tumblers of the locks click and then the bathroom   
door slowly creaks open.   
  
Janet stands there, ashen-faced, with one hand held lightly over her   
stomach. "I don't feel well." She says uncertainly. Her eyes flit   
feverishly back and forth, as if she's looking for an avenue of   
escape. Why is she suddenly so afraid of me?  
  
I gently drape my arm around her shoulders and lead her up the   
stairs. "Sweetheart, perhaps you had better lay down. The maid has   
called the doctor for you. Everything's going to be just fine."  
  
She nods slowly, flopping down upon the mattress like a rag doll and   
remains pliant and unnoticing as I undress her and slip a nightshirt   
over her head. The sound of footsteps trooping up the stairs signal   
the arrival of the doctor, who is escorted into the room by an   
anxious looking Helena.   
  
The doctor `hum's and `harrrrm's over the sleeping form of my   
beautiful Janet. She takes her pulse, records her blood pressure   
and then takes a recording of her temperature. The doctor scribbles   
down some notes onto a page and then whips out her stethoscope. The   
cold press of the metal circle wakes the patient up a little bit, and   
Janet mumbles incoherently before falling back to sleep.  
  
The doctor chews her pen and taps it thoughtfully upon her   
notepaper. "Throwing up was she?" she questions professionally,   
pacing in a circle beside the bed. I nod in confirmation, too   
worried about my Janet to speak in a coherent sentence.   
  
"Was she in any pain at all, or has she taken any pain meds?" I   
shake my head. Sure, I ordered extra sedatives to be placed in   
Janet's drink this morning, but surely that couldn't have affected   
her condition like this...could it?  
  
The doctor flips her folder shut and pockets her pen   
decisively. "Well," she starts, "As far as I can tell, she's simply   
fallen into a deep sleep. Maybe she was sick from something she ate,   
which would be cleared from her system now that she's thrown it all   
up." She catches my worried expression. "But if you would like,   
Doctor Jackson, I can run some blood tests just to be sure. It's   
probably nothing, just a little bad milk or something. Should be out   
of her system now..."  
  
She takes my panicked silence for a yes and pulls out a syringe and   
two vials, taking samples of Janet's blood before I even have time to   
object. She puts the samples away in her briefcase and then holds   
out her hand for me to shake. "It's been a pleasure to serve you   
this evening Doctor Jackson," she intones smoothly, "I will have   
the blood tests ready for Miss Fraiser tomorrow morning, if I may."   
  
I nod dumbly and gesture for Helena to show her out the door. Oh   
shit. What a major screw up. The sedatives won't show up on the   
blood tests, will they? The couldn't. I tell myself, the guys at   
the manufacturing company said the drugs were state of the art. They   
*must* be undetectable...that's how they were designed to work...right?  
  
I guess we'll have to find out tomorrow.  
  
------------------------------  
Friday  
------------------------------  
  
She's suspicious. She's become resistant to the sedatives. And   
she's also pregnant. Seven weeks.  
  
This is bad. It's worse than bad. This is catastrophic. What's   
more, I have found out that Sam has started having doubts about the   
direction of my Earth Net Program.   
  
It's been five days since the doctor delivered the bad news of   
Janet's pregnancy to me on Thursday. Janet was elated, I acted   
elated. But I guess the `joy' didn't quite reach my eyes. What am I   
going to do with a son? Or even with a daughter? I am a busy man.   
I haven't got any time for children...not that I enjoy them much   
anyway. A prefect waste of time, space and money better spent on   
other things.   
  
What if the sedatives start to affect the baby...? She'd have to stop   
taking them...that would be bad.  
  
No. I can't let her do that, I need my Janet safe and sound.   
Pregnant women need their rest. Yes. That's right. She needs the   
sedatives to help the baby.  
  
The good news, however was that the tests showed no definite signs of   
the sedatives I've been using to keep Janet drugged. It's for her   
own good anyway. The less resistance that I get for the EN project,   
the better. Which reminds me, I'm going to need to have a little   
talk with Sam today.  
  
Janet is sitting on the sofa reading as Jessica prepares me for a   
meeting with the head of defence today. I place my hand on her   
shoulder and lean down to kiss her cheek, noticing that she flinches   
and tries slightly to move away. Women! I think to myself as   
Jessica hands me my briefcase and my bodyguards escort me to my car.   
They're so unpredictable!  
  
-------------------------------  
Monday  
-------------------------------  
  
Monday morning I wake up alone. The unpleasant sounds of Janet   
retching in the bathroom. I groan in annoyance and cover my head   
with my pillow. Our relationship has been going downhill. She   
doesn't want to touch me, she won't speak to me unless she has to.   
At night there's a chasm of space between us on the sheets so wide   
that a truck could drive across it.   
  
I don't think the drugs are working any more...or at least not as   
effectively. I caught her sneaking through the files on my computer   
on Saturday morning. She claimed that she was sleepwalking. Yeah.   
Right. And I am trying to take over the world.   
  
Sam must be placing seeds of doubt into my Janet's mind. My   
sweetheart doesn't trust me anymore. She's wary of me, she   
suspects. I swear she's sending samples of the medications in the   
bathroom cabinet away for analysation when nobody's watching. I'll   
have to post a guard on her. She's becoming unstable, what with the   
pregnancy and all. She needs to be watched carefully and get plenty   
of rest. That's what the doctor said.   
More sedatives, more sleep. Sleep is good for my Janet.  
  
Plenty of sedatives.  
  
Plenty of rest.  
  
-------------------------------  
Tuesday  
----------------------------  
  
Oh dear, Sam is crazy. Just as I suspected. I comfort Janet as she   
watches the security guards drag Sam away in a straight jacket as she   
struggles and tries to fight her way out of their hands. "That woman   
is dangerous!" I yell after them, as my once- brilliant friend's   
accusations and curses slice through the sunlight on this sunny   
afternoon.   
  
Janet watches dazedly through eyes circled with purple bags. I've   
had to drug her to the gills to bring her under control. Yesterday   
evening she started screaming and ranting that I was trying to kill   
her, to kill her baby. That isn't true. I wouldn't do that. It's   
for her own good, I insisted; she needed to calm down and take   
another rest. Pregnant women shouldn't be standing up like that.   
Even if they're only seven weeks along.   
  
Samantha's curses bite at me as I guide Janet and the rest of my   
staff back inside the door.   
  
"You won't get away with this Daniel! I know what you're doing!   
Janet! Don't let him fool you Jan! He's evil! He'll kill everyone   
who gets in his way! Don't let it happen to you! JANET!!"  
  
I turn once more before entering my house to see the security guards   
push Sam's head back into the car. I shake my head sadly, and rub my   
hand up and down Janet's back to comfort her. "She's crazy   
sweetheart. Don't listen to her."  
  
We step in through the doorway. "Come on baby, let's get you inside."  
  
-------------------------------  
Friday  
-------------------------------  
  
The thing about power is, it's wonderful. It gives me such a rush to   
know that I have the ability to destroy the Goa'uld and rid the Earth   
of the threat that those horrible snakeheads present.   
  
I am powerful.  
  
I have power.  
  
I could rule the universe...  
  
-------------------------------  
Saturday  
-------------------------------  
First it was Sam, and now it is Jack. He came in today asking after   
Janet, saying that he hasn't heard from her in a while. I told him   
that she was sleeping and that no, he couldn't see her.   
  
He asked if I was keeping her prisoner. He said that he knew I   
wanted to take over the world.   
  
I laughed and told him to drink another beer.   
  
*  
Jack and I are watching the game together, just like back in the old   
days when Janet walks with difficulty into the room. "Daniel..." She   
slurs, falling to her knees in the doorway. Her eyes are filled with   
pain and fatigue. Her face is pale, her hair, limp and lifeless.   
  
I look around quickly for her guard detail. How did she manage to   
get past them so easily? There'll be hell for them to pay later. My   
sweet Janet should not be on her feet, look at her! She can barely   
stand alone!  
  
Jack turns his head and catches sight of Janet's sagging form. "Holy   
crap, Daniel!" He exclaims, jumping up from the couch and spilling   
his beer all over the floor. Damn. I should have guessed his   
drunkenness was all an act. "What have you done to her!?"  
  
He rushes over to my Janet and pulls her to her feet again. His   
expression is one of absolute fury. Janet is crying softly, her   
tears rolling shiny rivulets down her cheeks.   
  
"Jack, leave her alone." I command evenly. I can't have him   
upsetting my precious Janet. She's far too fragile to be put   
through this stress. She needs more sedatives. What is she doing   
out of bed anyway? She is supposed to be sleeping in her room.   
  
Jack gives me a defiant look of anger and makes for the front   
door. "I don't know what the hell you're doing here Daniel," he   
says harshly, "but you're going to kill her if you keep her like   
this."  
  
He now has my Janet cradled in his arms like a sleeping child. "I   
thought Sam was kidding when she said you were treating people like   
this, Daniel. I gave you the benefit of my doubt. Sam isn't the   
crazy one Daniel, it's you."  
  
---------------------------------  
Wednesday  
---------------------------------  
  
I got my Janet back from Jack yesterday. I saved her from the crazy   
man. She cried when she saw me, she even screamed for joy. I was so   
happy to have her back with me again. My beautiful Janet. I had to   
sedate her again, however. Pregnant women need their sleep. She's   
beautiful when she's sleeping.   
  
Very calm and peaceful.  
  
---------------------------------  
Friday  
---------------------------------  
  
"Please Daniel. Let me go."   
  
I don't believe that I'm hearing correctly until I hear her whisper   
the words again.  
  
"Daniel...please."  
  
She's begging me. She's pleading me to let her leave me.   
  
No.   
  
I can't let that happen, not with my success only moments away.   
  
Absolute power is so close I can touch it. I can feel it. I can   
smell it.   
  
I can almost taste it.  
  
"Daniel, you need help...please. Let me go..."  
  
Oh, my poor sweet darling Janet. Completely crazy. Over the hill.   
I'll have to take better care of you now.   
  
It's just you and me, baby. You and me.  
  
"I'm sorry sweetheart," I say, brushing her sweat-dampened hair away   
from her furrowed brow, "I can't do that."  
  
--------------------------------  
Sunday  
--------------------------------  
  
It's not me who is the crazy person.  
  
It's the rest of the world.  
  
--------------------------------  
  
end 


End file.
